The nearly 4,000 square-foot building is sandwiched between two other large apartment buildings in much better condition.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A Cliff Street apartment building that's seen better days is finally coming down this week.
The six-unit building at the top of Cliff has been vacant for some time and was blocked off with jersey barriers a few weeks ago when the front threatened to collapse.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said an "all-call" was sent out to neighbors to let them know staging for the demolition would begin Tuesday or Wednesday.
"The road will always be open but people may want to avoid it," he said.
The property was taken for taxes last year; the century-old, three-story building has been vacant for some time. There are temporary supports set up to prevent the structure from completely collapsing.
The Cliff Street removal is from the same bid for the demolition of the Modern Liquors building on State Street and both are being funded from Community Development Block Grant monies.
"The [demolition] at Modern Liquors took about four days longer than we had anticipated because of the concrete in the ground," said mayor. He estimated the Cliff Street demolition at about four days.
The city is going to try to take down some more properties later this summer, including two on Edgewood Avenue approved for removal in late 2014.
"We have a list of probably 30 buildings that were OK'ed for demolition, but that doesn't mean they get demo'ed that year," said the mayor.
"We have to look every year and prioritize which ones are dangerous," he said. "We also look at which ones are corridor improvements; we look at different dynamics."
The Edgewood ones are also outside the perimeter for use of CDBG funds. The mayor said the city is looking at a waiver but may end up using stabilization funds to demolish them.
"I'm thinking of including those two properties in an appropriation from stabilization. We're going to wait and see how we are in August, when we close out the year," he said.
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